# How do you link external movies to internal reviews in Adalo?

Save the external movie's numeric ID on each internal review, then filter the review list by the current movie's ID.

- Canonical URL: https://adalocado.com/answers/link-external-movies-to-internal-reviews
- Verification: Documented from current sources
- Topic: APIs and Integrations
- Skill level: Intermediate
- Last reviewed: 2026-08-25
- Index status: index-now

## Short answer

Store the external movie's numeric ID in a Number property on every internal Review record. When a user creates a review, save Current Movie > ID into that property, then filter the Reviews list where Movie ID equals Current Movie > ID.

When an external movie and an internal review cannot be connected with a native relationship, save the external movie's stable numeric ID on the review. The selected movie screen supplies Current Movie > ID when a review is created, and the review list uses the same value as an equality filter.

Keep the bridge narrow: store only the durable external key needed to identify the movie, not a copied title as the source of truth. Use normal Adalo relationships for internal records such as Reviews, Comments, and Users.

## Intended outcome

Each external movie detail screen shows only its own internal reviews, and each new review keeps a stable reference to the external movie.

## Requirements

- An External Collection for movies with a stable numeric ID
- An internal Reviews collection with a Movie ID Number property
- A movie detail screen where Current Movie is available
- An Adalo plan that supports External Collections

## Step by step

1. **Add the external key to Reviews**

   Add a Number property named Movie ID to the internal Reviews collection. Keep the review text, author relationship, rating, and created date as separate properties.

2. **Pass the selected movie to its detail screen**

   Link each external movie list item to the movie detail screen so Current Movie and its numeric ID are available as Magic Text.

3. **Save the key when creating a review**

   In the Create Review action or form submission, set Review > Movie ID to Current Movie > ID with no text added before or after the value.

4. **Filter the review list**

   Set the list to the internal Reviews collection and add a custom filter where Review > Movie ID is equal to Current Movie > ID.

5. **Relate comments to reviews**

   Because Reviews and Comments are both internal collections, relate each Comment to one Review and show Current Review > Comments on the review detail screen.

## Why it works

- The saved Movie ID acts as a foreign key between an external movie record and an internal review record when a native cross-collection relationship is not available in the builder.
- A numeric identifier is more reliable than a movie title because titles can change or repeat. Current Adalo documentation says External Collection IDs containing text, special characters, or UUIDs are unsupported.
- Comments do not need the same workaround when both Comments and Reviews are internal Adalo collections; use a normal one-to-many relationship for that layer.

## Data model

| Collection | Properties | Relationships |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Movies (External Collection) | Stable numeric ID, title, poster, and other TMDB fields | Referenced by Reviews through the saved numeric Movie ID |
| Reviews | Review text, rating, Movie ID Number, and created date | Belongs to one User; has many Comments |
| Comments | Comment text and created date | Belongs to one Review and one User |

## Common failures

### Every movie still shows every review

Confirm the list source is Reviews, add the Movie ID equality filter, and make sure the movie detail screen actually received Current Movie from the previous list item.

### New reviews save an empty Movie ID

Inspect the Create Review action on the movie detail screen and bind Movie ID to Current Movie > ID. If Current Movie is unavailable, repair the link into that screen first.

### The filter never matches

Use a Number property for the saved key and a numeric External Collection ID. Compare the raw values with no formatting, labels, or surrounding text.

### Two movies share the same reviews

Display Current Movie > ID and Current Review > Movie ID temporarily. The values must be stable and different for different movie records.

## Testing checklist

- [ ] Create one review for Movie A and one for Movie B, then confirm each movie screen shows only its own review.
- [ ] Open a movie with no reviews and confirm the list shows an intentional empty state instead of reviews from another movie.
- [ ] Create two reviews for the same movie and confirm both appear while reviews tied to a different numeric ID remain hidden.
- [ ] The External Collection exposes a stable numeric movie ID
- [ ] Each Review saves that ID in a Number property
- [ ] The movie detail screen receives Current Movie
- [ ] The Reviews list compares Movie ID to Current Movie > ID
- [ ] Comments relate to one internal Review

## Limitations

- This workflow requires the external service to expose a stable numeric movie ID. Current Adalo documentation says text IDs, special-character IDs, and UUIDs are unsupported for External Collections.
- The accepted forum answer demonstrates the numeric foreign-key pattern through a linked video, while current official documentation corroborates External Collection IDs, Record ID access, and custom filtering rather than this exact TMDB screen flow.
- The source thread also discusses review likes, but its toggle and join-collection guidance is a separate data-model decision and is not covered by this Answer.
- Adalocado did not reproduce the workflow against the live TMDB API.

## Community evidence

### [How do I link a specific movie to its reviews?](https://forum.adalo.com/t/how-do-i-link-a-specific-movie-to-its-reviews/65507/6)

The accepted reply stores the TMDB movie_id as a foreign key in the internal Reviews collection. Boundary: The detailed builder setup is demonstrated in a linked video rather than written out in the accepted post.

### [How do I link a specific movie to its reviews?](https://forum.adalo.com/t/how-do-i-link-a-specific-movie-to-its-reviews/65507/7)

The source author confirmed that using Movie ID solved the missing link between external movies and internal reviews. Boundary: The confirmation covers one TMDB-backed app and does not document the review-like workflow.

## Sources

- [Adalo forum accepted solution](https://forum.adalo.com/t/how-do-i-link-a-specific-movie-to-its-reviews/65507/6)
- [Adalo forum author confirmation](https://forum.adalo.com/t/how-do-i-link-a-specific-movie-to-its-reviews/65507/7)
- [Adalo Help: External Collections with API](https://help.adalo.com/integrations/external-collections-with-apis)
- [Adalo Help: Accessing your Record ID](https://help.adalo.com/integrations/accessing-record-id)
- [Adalo Help: Filtering in Adalo](https://help.adalo.com/component-basics/conditions-and-filtering/filtering-in-adalo)
- [Adalo Help: Relationships](https://help.adalo.com/database/relationships)

Markdown version: https://adalocado.com/answers/link-external-movies-to-internal-reviews.md